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Australia’s sugar industry has strongly criticised the outcome of the Australia–EU Free Trade Agreement, with CANEGROWERS warning the deal fails to deliver meaningful benefits for cane farmers.
CANEGROWERS CEO Dan Galligan described the agreement as a major setback for the industry, particularly for growers across Queensland.
“This is a horrendous outcome for Australia’s cane growers,” Mr Galligan said.
“For the past decade we have made our needs abundantly clear to the Australian Government and they have not delivered. There is no meaningful commercial access for sugar in this deal.
“The market access Australia has achieved is extremely small – less than 2% of Europe’s import requirement and well below what Brazil and its Mercosur partners secured last year, which was around four times larger than Australia’s outcome.”
Under the agreement, Australia will receive an additional 35,000 tonnes of sugar quota access over three years, adding to an existing allocation of 9,925 tonnes. However, Mr Galligan said the increase falls far short of what is needed to create real commercial opportunities.
“These volumes are not economically meaningful. They will not shift the dial for growers or materially change Australia’s position in the European market.
“This is not what genuine market access looks like.”
He also criticised the lack of long-term growth opportunities within the agreement.
“Compounding this, the agreement delivers no growth, no pathway to expand access and effectively locks growers into a bad deal for the next generation.
“It’s a capitulation to protectionist European sugar interests, plain and simple.”
Mr Galligan said the outcome was particularly disappointing given Europe’s reliance on imported sugar.
“The EU is a net importer of sugar and must bring in significant volumes each year to meet domestic demand.
“Australia can help meet that demand with high-quality, sustainably produced sugar, but instead we have been locked out.”
He added that the deal does little to address the challenges faced by Australian producers, particularly exposure to volatile global prices.
“This deal does nothing to change that position.
“We support trade liberalisation, but it has to be meaningful. Growers need outcomes that create genuine opportunity, not agreements that deliver nothing now and take us backwards when it comes to trade liberalisation.”
CANEGROWERS said it will continue to review the full details of the agreement while advocating for improved global market access and fairer trading conditions for Australia’s sugar industry.
*Stock image from https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-spoonful-of-sugar-11477544/
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